The UN has information that more than 200 people have been killed by President Bashar Assad's
forces since December 2. And with new weekend deaths "it is my estimation that the total number of people killed since the protests began earlier this year is now close to 5,000. This situation is intolerable," she said in her prepared remarks.

The Security Council held a closed-door briefing on Syria and the rest of the Middle East with western nations stepping up pressure for the 15-nation body to condemn the violence.